Morning journal and courier., 1887-05-19
THE CHEAPEST OF WAR SHIPS.


 The Last and Biggest Monster and All Her Enormous Guns and Improve ments.
 From the London Standard. The new war ship Victoria was launched
 in April from the shipbuilding yard of Sir
 W. G. Armstrong, Newcastle This being
 the largest ship ever launched on the Tyne,
 and the heaviest vessel in the world, oonsid-
 erable interest was taken in the proceedings.
 A distinguished company assembled on g re- served platform to witness the proceedings,
 other parts of the extensive yard, the oppo-
 site side of the river and 8 number of steam
 boats being occupied by crowds numbering
 certainly not less than from one hundred and
 forty to one hundred and fifty thousand per- sons.
 After the launch a select company assem- bled in the refreshment room.
 Sir W. G. Armstrong, in proposing ''Suc- cess to the Victoria said: sI am about to propose toast, but before I do so will take the present opportunity of making some re- marks concerning the Victoria and war ships in general. This is not fitting occasion for me to critieise the policy of strengthening our fleet by the addition of great armor clads rather than by the addition of swift cruisers of the protected class. I have said enough on this subject on many former occasions, and will now only observe that I am glad to see that admiralty disposed to slacken their expenditure on these giant ships in response to similar action the l part of other maritime powers, and that they are expanding their operations in the build ing of swift cruisers I maintain, as have always done, that this country requires above all things a numerous fleet of swift ont nf Dt or passenger ships, but specially built and adapted for the protection of the wide spread commerce upon which our very exis- tence depends, and for aiding in the defence of our colonies, which I trust will every year draw closer to the mother country. But what chiefly wish to do on this occasion is to direct your attention to the marvellous transformation which has taken place within the last forty years in our ships of war and their armaments, and the enormous increase of efficiency which has been attained there by:
 confessed our ships have sadly deteriorated. No more beautiful object could be seen than great man-of- war of the old type under press of sail. Poets and painters have de- lighted in depicting it; but the engineer appreciates power more than beauty, and while Ruskin would stigmatize a modern war ship as 8 'sdevil' ship, the engineer regards it as a splendid triumph of me- chanieal skill. For the purpose of compar ison between ships of the old sort and the new, I can take no more fitting examples
 than the Victory and the Victoria, so like
 in name, and yet so different in all things else. The Victory, l need scarcely say, was the famous battle ship in which Nelson
 fought and died. She was one of the lar
 gest ships of her day, but her displace
 ment of total weight, with everything on
 board, was only three thousand i've hun dred tons, while the displacement of the Victoria will be ten thousand five hundred
 tons. The Victory, in accordance with the
 usage of the time, was built of oak; the Victoria, in accordance with present prac- tice, is built of iron. The Victory was propelled by wind, over which man has no control; the Victoria will be propelled by steam, over which man has perfect mas tery. The Victory had the character of being an extraordinary quick sailer, and when the wind happened to be exception ally propitious she could attain speed of 1 nearly thirteen knots an hour. The Vieto- ria, propelled by engines of more than twelve thousand horse power, may be ex- pected to achieve about seventeen knots an hour.
 e'In regard to armament the comparison | in favor of the Victoria is astounding, and ought to open the eyes of those who are in the habit of disparaging the progress of l artillery in this country. The armament of 1 the Victory as she fought at Trafalgar con- sisted ot thirty thirty-two.pounders, thirty twenty-four pounders, forty twelve-pound-
 CTS and two sixty-eight-pounder carron- ades, making in all one hundred and two guns. The heaviest of these guns was un- | der three tons, while the heaviest on board the Victoria is one hundred and ten tons.
 The largest charge of powder used in the
 Victory was eight pounds, while the lar gest charge to bs used in the Victoria will 1 be nine hundred pounds. The heaviest
 shot used in the Victory was sixty-eight
 one thousand eight hundred pounds. The
 weight of metal discharged from the broad- side of the Victory was one thousand one
 hundred and fifty pounds, against four l thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds